Keeping small tetras with clown loach: a safe combination?

[tetraTim]

I've moved my other fish out and now I'm left with 7 clown loach and 5 blue botia in my 6ft tank, along with a few oddball grow outs. I'm thinking of setting it up for discus, corys, and tetras. The thing is, I'd like to keep the loaches in this tank rather than moving them in with my bigger fish. My loaches are 5-7" and they're a greedy bunch, I'm just wondering if they'd be a problem if I added, say, 40 cardinals or rummy nose. It's been years since I've kept smaller fish, so I'm not really sure what to expect.

[Bisco]

My experience with smaller loaches is that they coexist with small tetras just fine. I have a 75g tank where 4 clown loaches, 12 neons and 10 Colombian tetras have been living together for about 2 years - no losses. Another tank has 2 clown loaches with black phantom tetras, again no issues. Even my quarantine tank with 4 blue red tail loaches and guppy fry doesn't seem to be losing any fry. However, I've never had loaches as large as yours, so I'm not sure how that would play out.

[tetraTim]

My experience with smaller loaches is that they coexist with small tetras just fine. I have a 75g tank where 4 clown loaches, 12 neons and 10 Colombian tetras have been living together for about 2 years - no losses. Another tank has 2 clown loaches with black phantom tetras, again no issues. Even my quarantine tank with 4 blue red tail loaches and guppy fry doesn't seem to be losing any fry. However, I've never had loaches as large as yours, so I'm not sure how that would play out.

Cheers Bisco, thanks for the input. Lovely fish indeed, especially the blue red tails. Now I've got a less crowded tank, I'm seeing more of my loaches, and they're a good size too - 5-6" now.